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cagenerals · 1 year

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Love & Basketball: A Black Excellence Classic by AR

1st Quarter: “All is fair in love and basketball, right?” It’s 1981 in L.A. Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) are two childhood sweethearts who both want to be in the NBA. Quincy’s dad is Zeke McCall (Dennis Haysbert) who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers. He is a natural talent born pro. Monica has to work hard to prove herself with a stay at home mom/wife who wants her to be ladylike.

2nd quarter: Now it’s 1988 and their love-hate relationship lasts until high school with Monicas’ edge and Quincy’s top-dog attitude. On prom night, the soon to become couple shows their true feelings after they revealed they’ll be going to the same college, USC. They celebrated with a kiss, finally showing the passion between the two. Quincy took Monica’s virginity.

3rd quarter: Both managing themselves as athletes, students and as a couple, Quincy instantly finds success of the court. Monica struggles for playing time behind senior guard Sidra, having run-in with her head coach. Monica and Quincy’s relationship grows apart more as they deal with the reality of two different lifestyles. Monica finally earns point guard at the end of the season. When Quincy finds out his dad lied to him about cheating on his mom, he goes to Monica for comfort. But that means she would have to miss her curfew and she didn’t want to mess up her opportunity. She denied him. He cheated on her. They exchanged some words and broke up.

4th quarter: It’s now 1993. The two have strived through their careers both playing as professional basketball players. After Monica’s last championship game playing for an international Woman’s basketball team in Barcelona, she realizes that basketball doesn’t make her happy anymore. Quincy, who left USC after the breakup, has now been in the the NBA for 5 years. He is now engaged and tore his ACL at his championship game. Monica, hearing about the bad news, flies home to see him. The two are lost for words. When they see other, they are in awe of how much they missed each other. But they didn’t want to say it out loud. Monica ends up getting a little uncomfortable when she meets Quincy’s fiancé. Monica goes home and starts arguing with her mom over her resentments. Her mom felt as if she had to give up her dreams after having children and she resents Monica for not appreciating the sacrifices she made for our family. Monica felt as if her mom never made her feel loved and accepted because she kept trying to force her to give up on her goals for a stereotypical woman's role in life that she didn’t care for.

Quincy’s wedding in two weeks and Monica’s mom sees that she’s a little upset about the good news so she tells her to go fight for her man back and continue her career. Monica challenges Quincy in a one-on-one game for his heart. He ends up winning, meaning he’ll get married to his fiancé. But instead, he chooses Monica. At the end, it is 1998 and Quincy, her husband, and their daughter, are cheering for their mom who plays for the new WNBA.

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, produced by Spike Lee and Sam Kite, this Black excellence classic was realized on April 21, 2000. The acting quality was amazing. Today’s movies no shade would never compare. These talented actors made you live that movie with them as if you were really in their shoes. As if there was really a Monica Wright and Quincy McCall. The soundtrack was phenomenal with some of the greatest artists of all time including Rafael Saddiq, Angie Stone, Zapp and Steve Silk. Hurley also included some songs from MC Lyte, Al Green, Rufus and the famous -- rest her soul -- Aaliyah...as well as many more talented artists. The ratings of this film blew the roof. Fans loved it. Celebrities loved it. It’s a classic. If you don’t like this movie... you’re clearly a hater!

I love this movie so much because it just shows you how you can do anything you put your mind to. The character, Monica, is so passionate about everything she does so she comes off as an emotional wreck when she really just wants to be accepted for who she is. She made it to the top from scratch -- no handouts. Moral of her story: it’s okay to be yourself. Quincy’s ego in the movie is just like some of our male Black fellas in the world and not saying it’s bad to be spoon-fed but his situation in the outcome humbled him to learn that he needs to be there for her just as much as she was there for him. And the big moral of the story is about empowering Black love. The fairytale of falling in love with your childhood best friend.

#love basketball

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anosci · 1 year

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(136-150 albums etc that I’ve listened to this year, copied from twitter) (now with art. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11])

names and thoughts below cut

136/ Proc Fiskal - RT Hon (2023) absurdly cool hi tech sound de sign it fills a neat space where it's not "heavy" but it's not "chill" either.

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137/ VA - SPC 18 (2023) absolutely insane turnout for this one! namedropping hilites: "doodack beta" BANGER. MASSIV. "a, b, or d-side?" cute :D "NO MORE SUICIDES" MASSIVELY UNDERRATED MINDBENDER. ERFBOUND. "the most average cbat in ohio" mad decent B)

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138/ Dialed - Dials And Tribulations (2023) a nice chillout idm sort of flavor kinda late 00s sound somewhat? alright all around

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139/ Jesper Kyd - Warhammer 40K: Darktide OST (2022) i got a comment abt JK's electostyle shining in here and… partial agree. the man loves his epic orch but when he pulls out the synths he goes hard. much love for both in "Transmission Commences". +holy shit "Disposal Unit"!

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140/ Keiichi Suzuki - Mother Revisited (2021) this is a heartfelt reprise of the more human side of earthbound's soundtrack. ("mostly" because… wow there's some psychedelics here.) sadly overall not quite my cup of tea, but i cant help but admire the, well… heart.

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141/ GRiZ - Rebel Era (2013) man this griz fellow makes some sexy music. finally, some funk in my wobs!

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142/ Machine Girl - 13th Hour EP (2013) hmm. this doesn't quite vibe with me and i can't place why. except "Trigger Finger", which feels like an odd one out?

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143/ Falcon Funk - Falcon Funk EP (2013) i am excited to announce that koan sound is not the only funky wob dude kicking ass in the early 10s. final track is a bit weak, drifting into some less funky style. feels misplaced. but the first three tracks? hell to the yeah.

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144/ Pegboard Nerds - The Lost Tracks (2013) two big highlights here for me: "FrainBreeze" holy hell an absolute banger opening. i love the FUNK "Lawless" is absolutely WILD to me. im down for the hard acid throwback. but the rest? still really good actually!

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145/ Stenny & Andrea - Vostok Smokescreen (2013) the synths float and the drums have a lovely texture. exactly the kind of kind-of-techno hazy-but-not-really vibes that i needed tonight.

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146/ KNOWER - Let Go (2013) oh yeah, i just remembered. i really really love the stabby synthy jazzy vibe these guys pull off. i honestly thought "time travler" wouldn't hold without anonymoose's video but wow it still slaps. hot damn.

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147/ Genevieve Artadi - Forever Forever (2023) honestly sounds like it could've come from cuneiform. like a particularly relaxed Thinking Plague. soft and luxurious.

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148/ Fantastic Plastic Machine - Scale (2013) man. there's a lot here but i'm struggling to mesh with it. this feels like FPM wanted a piece of that fidget electro swingy houseish action and then… produced something thatd steamroll a 1998 set, but in 2013… bluh :\

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149/ Flume - Arrived Anxious, Left Bored (2023) massive and l u s h . this is a funny spot where i just had a good time so idk what to add lol. its good!

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150/ Flare - DOTS (2013) man, ken ishii always hits just right for me. lots of raw synth stuff but with just enough of a liquid bed to sit comfortably. feels like a really great combo of "old vibes" and new.

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#media thread

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meepmorpperaltiago · 3 years

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Stranger Things future headcanons

My Stranger Things hyperfixation is Strong rn so I’ve slowly been piling up all my future headcanons into this way-too-long monstrosity ✌️

– Hopper and Joyce get married in 1987 and basically live happily ever after

– They get together pretty much as soon as they’re reunited – as the cabin has been destroyed beyond repair and Joyce wants to move back to Hawkins, Hopper and El end up staying at their new house in what’s supposed to be a temporary arrangement but becomes permanent pretty fast

– Hopper struggles a lot post Russia but with the support of Joyce and the kids he gets through it

– Murray is his best man

– El waits a year to go to college and then moves in with Mike when she’s in her second year and he’s in his third. They don’t go to the same college but they get a place close enough that they can both commute to their respective campuses

– They also get a cat named Leia and both get jobs to earn a bit of extra money considering they’re still students – El works at a local library and Mike works in a coffee shop

– Max and El are roommates in their first year of college (Max took a gap year) and Max moves into the apartment opposite Mike and El’s

– Lucas and Max are basically the Ross and Rachel to Mike and El’s Chandler and Monica, they have constant on again off again drama for years until they finally get together and stay together when they’re a little older

– Will goes to art college in New York, while Dustin also goes further afield to study communications, but they keep in touch with the others as much as they can

– Having already had their first concert experiences back in ‘87 with Madonna’s Who’s That Girl Tour, El and Max go to the Blonde Ambition tour together and have the best time

– The gang also all go and see Nirvana together because the image of them all huddled together jumping up and down to Smells Like Teen Spirit is too precious

– Mike proposes to El on a quiet Sunday morning in their apartment – he makes her Eggos on a special plate that says “marry me?” on it

– They find out there’s a clearing in Mirkwood that’s become popular for weddings and they have their ceremony there, on the 7th November 1994, 11 years after they first met. Literally everyone sobs.

– Once she graduates El continues working at the library while she works to get a master’s degree to become a therapist. In the year following whatever’s going to happen in season 4, with the help of Doctor Owens she started going to therapy and it helped her so much that she eventually realised she wanted to help people that way – and with a heck of a lot of hard work, she succeeds!

– Mike studies literature and eventually becomes a high school English teacher, with an ambition to become a writer someday. He stays that way for 6 years, until him and El start having kids and he decides to become a stay at home dad, especially because El earns more than he does so financially it makes more sense for him to take time out of work, plus he really wants to be a more active dad than his own father. While he’s at home with the kids, he writes his first full fantasy novel, which eventually becomes a massive success and allows him to fully launch his writing career in the way that he always wanted.

– Mike and El have 3 kids – Lily (b. 1998), Ryan (b. 2000) and Emma (b. 2004). All 3 kids inherit El’s powers and they work incredibly hard to make sure that a. The kids are raised to keep it concealed and that b. They never experience the pain and fear that El suffered.

– Nancy and Jonathan become a highly success journalist – photojournalist team, eventually getting married and having 2 kids after a few years of travelling the world, Jason (b. 1997) and Clare (b. 2001)

– Steve and Robin remain lifelong friends – they end up working together when they’re older, because he eventually becomes a gym teacher and she becomes a language teacher

– Because I’m basically projecting Ross and Rachel onto them, while they’re on again and off again Max and Lucas end up with an unintended pregnancy, which Max discovers at Mike and El’s wedding – their son Ethan is born in 1995 and they’re great co parents even before they properly get back together

– While Lucas becomes an aerospace engineer, Max becomes a skateboarding instructor and eventually starts her own skate school

– They finally get together permanently in 1999 and never look back, eventually getting married in 2002 and having a second child, Marcus, a year later

– Will comes out to everyone at the end of his first year – he becomes a comic book illustrator and ends up with a comic book writer named Chris Cole. They get a civil union in 2000 and then get married as soon as they can and they adopt twin babies named Matt and Emily in 2005

– Dustin does something techy with computers for a while but him and his wife Demi get a farm out of nowhere (I just love the idea of Dustin’s life taking a completely random direction and everyone being shocked ok) – they say that their animals are like their children

– In 2007 at a party reunion Lily, Marcus, Ryan and Emma put on a truly epic performance of the first two high school musical soundtracks, with Ethan, Matt, Emily and all the adults as their audience

– The party eventually get a group chat that they post in constantly

– Once a year they also all get back together in person specifically to play a big game of D & D (they do it over zoom in 2020 and are planning to do the same this year)

– Leia passes away in 2006 and a year later the Wheelers get a labradoodle named Chewie

– Max and El get a podcast together. I don’t know what the heck they talk about, but they have a podcast. Their children are highly embarrassed by this but they don’t care at all.

– When El first moved out to go to college just over 30 years ago, she promised to phone Hopper every Sunday – they call each other every Sunday afternoon to this day and when lockdown started it became a FaceTime with the whole family.

#stranger things #mileven #jopper #the party #eleven #hopper #Joyce #mike wheeler

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Spectacular Spectacular!

On the twentieth anniversary of its explosion onto big screens, Ella Kemp high-kicks into the Moulin Rouge! once again, accompanied by screenwriter Craig Pearce and a chorus line of jukebox-musical academics and swoony Letterboxd fans.

“You’re always writing for yourself, for the film you want to see. I like all kinds of different films and I think teenage girls do too.” —Craig Pearce, Moulin Rouge! co-writer

This is a story about love. A love born at the turn of the twentieth century in an iconic Parisian cabaret and brought to life in 2001 on Australia’s most spectacular sound stage. A valentine to excess, greed, fantasy and, above all, to the fundamental Bohemian ideals: truth, beauty, freedom and love. This is the story of Moulin Rouge! and how it still burns bright, two decades on, in the hearts of romantics all over the world.

The film, a fateful love story between penniless writer Christian and dazzling courtesan Satine—played by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman—premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 9, 2001 and opened in New York and Los Angeles cinemas only weeks later, on May 18. Cast and crew fought hard to get it there: unimaginably, writer-director Baz Luhrmann’s father passed away on the first day of filming, and Kidman’s then-marriage was in turmoil. “There were times of beautiful moments, but there were times where we were like, ‘This is so hard’,” Luhrmann recently told an Australian journalist.

And, though this seems strange to say in a world that has since welcomed Mamma Mia!, Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, making a movie musical early in the millennium was a high-risk pursuit. Luhrmann again: “‘Musicals will never be popular again’ … I can’t tell you how many times I was told that.”

“It’s part of a cycle,” explains Dr. Eleonora Sammartino, an academic specializing in contemporary American film musicals. “It came after a period in the 1990s where musicals had disappeared from the big screen.” Lisa Duffy, Letterboxd member and Doctor of Hollywood Musicals, agrees: “Films coming out [that year] were a lot more dour, so this was a real gamble.”

Nobody understood this gamble better than the film’s co-writer, Craig Pearce, who has been Luhrmann’s close friend and professional partner since the pair were students together. Moulin Rouge! is the third and final entry in what we now know as their red-curtain trilogy, alongside Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Romeo + Juliet (1996).

“Baz had been thinking about the parallels between the Moulin Rouge and Andy Warhol’s Factory,” Pearce recalls. “Places where artists congregate, where it’s more than a place, it’s a petri dish of creativity. Like The Factory, and Studio 54, the Moulin Rouge was a place where the old and the wealthy pay a lot of money to hang out with the young and the sexy.”

At the end of the twentieth century, however, the Moulin Rouge wasn’t all that great (the original had burnt down in 1915). Pearce recalls: “We went to Paris in 1999 on a research trip and discovered, to our horror, that the Moulin Rouge now is just a hideous tourist trap. So we had to go on this journey to find out how this amazing creativity—artists and dancers and musicians—came out of what now feels like this tawdry girlie show.”

With the location and period locked in, Pearce and Luhrmann worked to find the story’s driving force. “This movie wouldn’t work without the exclamation point,” writes Adelaide. Pearce is the first to admit this: “It’s saying it’s Moulin Rouge, but it’s not that one. What we’re trying to do is heighten truth, but you have to start with that underlying truth,” he explains. “It’s not casting around for ‘what would be a cool idea’ because you never come up with one. It’s never as interesting as the truth. Like, there was an elephant in the garden of the Moulin Rouge. And why does that matter? It matters because there are certain inherent logics in the way human beings operate.”

“It's a musical of recycled parts. It’s a story which, beat for beat, has been told for centuries. It’s a staged show drawn from the lives of the characters themselves… This is a film [that] is bold enough not just to say that all art is about finding your own meanings behind someone else’s ideas, and that all art is just copying and stealing, but that this can be totally valid and authentic. When Nicole Kidman sings ‘Your Song’ to the Duke, she’s stealing from the writer, and Luhrmann is stealing from Elton John. But when Ewan McGregor is singing to Kidman, it’s the most magical moment you could possibly imagine. That’s what makes ‘Moulin Rouge!’ a true masterpiece. Cinema has never been more fake, and cinema has rarely been more real.” —Sam

Moulin Rouge! borrows from all over. There are hints of La Traviata, of Cabaret and of Émile Zola’s Nana. There were Toulouse Lautrec’s paintings (John Leguizamo tremendously embodies the painter in the film), Baudelaire and Verlaine’s literature, Jason and the Argonauts, Homer’s Odyssey, and the revues of the 1920s and ’30s. “Moulin Rouge! really embraces that vaudevillian component,” says Dr. Hannah Robbins, a Broadway and Hollywood musicals specialist.

Craig Pearce and Baz Luhrmann writing in Paris (1998) and New York (2019). / Photos from Luhrmann’s Twitter

“This genre lends itself to repetition and fragmentation,” Sammartino expands. “It’s part of the syntax of the musical and has always been, this idea of borrowing from other sources. This doesn’t take away from the daring postmodern approach Moulin Rouge! is defined by, it’s simply further proof that it’s, well, a very good musical.”

Above all else, the core of Moulin Rouge! is inspired by the myth of Orpheus of Thrace and his doomed love affair with the beautiful Eurydice, whom he followed into Hades after she died. “The show must go on, Satine,” the nightclub’s impresario Harold Zidler grimly tells his star, as their world begins to crumble. “We’re creatures of the underworld. We can’t afford to love.”

It wasn’t the first time Pearce and Luhrmann had looked to ancient mythology. Strictly Ballroom’s mantra, which tells us “a life lived in fear is a life half lived” owes everything to David and Goliath. But with the Orphean myth, the screenwriters were looking to dig deeper, to find something much darker. “The Orphean myth is a romantic tragedy in its essence,” Pearce explains. “David and Goliath is more youthful, and it’s about saying that belief can conquer anything. But as you get older people get sick, they die, and life is about resilience and finding ways to embrace the hard things in life and move forward.”

That might sound antithetical to the all-singing, all-dancing nature of the movie musical, but the genre has been trying to tell devastating stories like Moulin Rouge! for decades. “Hollywood is rarely interested in buying and remaking stories with devastating endings as much as stage musicals are,” Duffy explains. (See: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera.)

This reluctance can be traced back to the classic era, during which there were rules about the ways a musical could end under the censorship laws of the Production Code. Simply put, they had to have a happy ending. (Which also led to a fair amount of bizarre deus ex machina to guarantee a nice, cheery final act).

But then in the 1960s the Code fades away, and Hollywood starts engaging with violence, sex and explicit trauma on-screen. “We have much more freedom in the contemporary era to have people die explicitly,” Duffy says. “And that’s why we keep returning to Moulin Rouge!: there’s the explicit negotiation of our entry into the fantasy world, and then we’re devastated, and the curtains close and we’re in reality again.”

“It’s one of the great 21st-century films. Baz Luhrmann is only good when figuring out how to make historical periods of excess into contemporary displays of grotesquerie, somehow turning great films (‘French Cancan’) or great literature (‘The Great Gatsby’) into tacky Technicolor vomit that somehow understands the underlying sorrow of the material better than any serious-minded adaptation.” —Jake

The red-curtain trilogy has a distinct set of rules: one, the viewer must know how the film ends from the start; two, the story must be set in a heightened world; and three, it must contain a device that keeps the audience awake at all times, whether that be ballroom dancing, scattershot Shakespearean dialogue, or pop songs.

“Part of the appeal of the artifice is that it gives the audience permission to say, ‘This isn’t real, you’re about to see a fantasy, and that’s okay,’” Duffy says. “The pleasure is the fantasy of it. The whole film is us seeing how Christian is imagining what happened—and the musical is the most extreme genre that allows such imagination.”

The point was never to temper the elaborate, hyper-aware fakeness of it all, but to really commit to it. Says Robbins, “Musicals are ultimately artificial and exclusively constructed. And that’s what Moulin Rouge! achieves and quite a lot of films don’t. It goes, ‘This is where the story is going, this is the energy, this will be played in the soundtrack.’ There’s a deliberate thought process there.”

Luhrmann recently said: “The way we made the movie is the way the movie is.” An under-explored aspect of Moulin Rouge! is how the whole affair, with its ‘Spectacular Spectacular’ musical-within-a-musical device, is an insider’s guide to the mechanics and politics of making ‘big art’. How money can control both the art (the dastardly Duke insisting on “his” ending), and the artists (Satine is never told she is dying, because she is the golden goose upon whose shoulders the success of the company rests; Christian is likewise left in the dark, because he is the scriptwriter who needs to finish writing the show. Both are wrung dry for their talents).

There are shades of Luhrmann in Zigler, the impresario juggling cast, crew, investors and opening dates (Moulin Rouge! was originally slated for December 2000). Christian and friends in playwriting mode are surely Pearce and Luhrmann themselves, searching for the most economical way to say “the hills are vital, intoning the descant”.

And, from the show-within-a-show rehearsals, to the bustle of the backstage, to the gun-chase through the wooden bones of the fly tower, the production details are Catherine Martin to the very last diamante. Nobody does daring bedazzlement quite like ‘CM’, Luhrmann’s fellow producer and life partner. Electricity was the new, exciting thing in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century and this film was lit.

A necklace worn by Satine as a gift from the Duke was made of real diamonds and platinum. Designed by Stefano Canturi, It was the most expensive piece of jewellery ever specifically made for a film, with 1,308 diamonds weighing 134 carats, and worth an estimated one million dollars. Needless to say, Martin won both costume and production design Oscars for the film.

Also among the film’s eight Academy Award nominees: editor Jill Bilcock, about whose singular craft there is a recent documentary. Her breathless, kaleidoscopic cutting (also deployed in Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet) dropped us right on the dance floor; one 65-second sequence contained a boggling 85 cuts. And this is on the back of her superbly judged opening, a scene that repeats itself as she places Christian at both the start of his love story, and its devastating aftermath—heartbroken, unshaven, self-medicating, reaching for the words to begin making sense of his loss.

“I wondered, for the first hour of this, how Baz Luhrmann had managed to balance such in-your-face stylistic audacity while maintaining a genuine feeling of care for the characters and their struggles—is it all down to Ewan McGregor’s wonderfully earnest face, or the way Nicole Kidman’s smouldering-temptress persona is worn down by one of the most charming cinematic uses of Elton John’s ‘Your Song’? But as the ‘Elephant Love Medley’ transformed into David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’, I stopped caring, I just swooned.” —Kat

If electricity was the thing that drove the kids wild in the 1900s, the internet was on everyone’s minds in 2001. We were just figuring out how to juggle tabs and text people. The real magic dust sprinkled throughout Moulin Rouge! is, obviously, the cacophonous soundtrack, which made sense to our collective, fragmented consciousness.

“No other musical of the modern era has so perfectly captured the sense of spinning an iPod wheel every 45 seconds to play something else,” writes Jake of the medley of songs by David Bowie, Fat Boy Slim, Nirvana, Police, Elton John, Rufus Wainwright, Madonna and many others.

Luhrmann and Pearce stopped at nothing to get every single track from every single artist they wanted. The journey took more than two years, and some bodies were left at the side of the road. “You constantly have to kill your darlings,” Pearce sighs. RIP to Rod Stewart’s ‘Tonight’s the Night’, The Rolling Stones’ ‘Under My Thumb’, Prince’s ‘Raspberry Beret’ and Fifth Dimension’s ‘Up, Up and Away’. (Hot air balloons were big in 2001.)

"We wanted the music to be modern, because we didn’t want it to feel like a fusty, crusty world,” says Pearce. “We wanted to find the universal modern parallels that have existed since time immemorial.” But it wasn’t just about finding the most popular songs at the time. “The structure had to be driven by the needs of the story,” the screenwriter explains. “The musicals on film that tend to fail are the ones where the music feels like a film clip. If it’s not serving the emotional needs of the story, you very quickly check out and it becomes boring. With good musical storytelling, it builds and builds to a point where you can’t do anything but express yourself through song.”

Has there ever been a more desperately romantic promise than when Christian starts telling Satine he doesn’t have much to give her, before nailing that one perfect high note to reassure her that his gift is his song? Why, yes: when the mirrored love stories of Christian and Satine, and of the penniless sitar player and the courtesan in ‘Spectacular Spectacular’, meet at their dramatic peak, with ‘Come What May’. (The film’s only original song, it had been submitted for the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack by writers David Baerwald and Kevin Gilbert.)

“Moulin Rouge! was successful because it was using songs from different ages and periods, appealing to different audiences with something they could have a connection to. So it wasn’t just boomers, not just millennial or Gen X,” says Sammartino. “Something like Rock of Ages, for example, was much more narrow in terms of the kind of music you needed to like.”

“This film is a dramatic bitch and I love her.” —Mulaney

‘Moulin Rouge!’ co-writer and director Baz Luhrmann.

There is a pattern to our most emphatic reviews for the film: they come from relatively young people, who mainly identify as women. It’s something critics anticipated back in 2001. The New York Times wrote, in a fairly ambivalent review, that “young audiences, especially girls, will feel as if they had found a movie that was calling them by name”. We don’t have time to fully dig into the antiquated notion that “low art” (the publication’s quippy headline for that review was “An Eyeful, an Earful, Anachronism”) is aimed specifically at women, but surely we have to ask the question twenty years on: does anyone still think this could possibly be true?

“You’re always writing for yourself, for the film you want to see,” says Pearce. “I like all kinds of different films and I think teenage girls do too.” And let’s remember, it was Harry Styles who said of the broad demographic of his fanbase back in 2017: “Teenage girls—they don’t lie. If they like you, they're there. They don’t act ‘too cool’. They like you, and they tell you.”

Robbins: “The rom-com has made the connection between song and emotional display about female pain. The Emma Thompson crying to Joni Mitchell kind of lineage has tempered musicals—people think that’s what Mamma Mia! is: women and mothers and daughters and feelings.” Dig a little deeper and you’ll find a lot of musical-related data suggesting a broader scope. “When I went to see Frozen on Broadway, kids of all genders were wearing Olaf costumes, much more than princess ones. That is not the narrative Disney would like. And when people gender musicals and think of the princesses franchises, they don’t look to the fact that The Lion King and Aladdin were more successful.”

There has been an undeniable effort to reel male audiences in to see 21st-century musicals. On Hugh Jackman’s welcome, flamboyant career pivot (surprising to anyone but Australians), Duffy says: “Casting Wolverine in Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman is very, ‘See, manly men can do it too!’” Let’s not forget that Ewan McGregor had gotten his big break as freewheeling heroin addict Mark Renton in Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting just six years prior to playing Christian.

Indeed, says Duffy, “more of my male friends have seen Moulin Rouge! than other musicals. The MTV tone might have been significant, and there was the ‘Lady Marmalade’ music video—the fact you have all these beautiful pop stars writhing around in corsets. And just having David Bowie on the soundtrack is like, ‘Okay, this isn’t just girl music.’ Pop music offers an easier way to move past the stigma of show tunes.”

Crucially, Robbins notes that all of this prejudice, and the effort to tear it down, is speaking to, and about, a very specific—cisgender, heterosexual—subsection of audiences. “I always wonder where the critics think the queer audiences are. I do wonder if there’s a cis-het vibe going on that has even more to do with it, reinforcing that norm rather than actually focusing on young girls as an audience.”

I asked my interviewees whether they thought, twenty years on, that Moulin Rouge! would be better received today—and which parts of our contemporary cinematic and musical fabric owe a debt to Luhrmann’s jukebox wonder. “We’re more receptive but we have specific demands,” says Robbins. “And today’s musicals sink or swim on whether they meet those demands. So The Greatest Showman is the Moulin Rouge! of now. I think people would be lying if they didn’t say that the cinematography in Moulin Rouge! hasn’t affected almost every movie musical that has been made since. We wouldn’t have ‘Rewrite the Stars’ if we didn’t have ‘Sparkling Diamonds’.”

Duffy agrees: “So many things that come after you can draw a line directly to Moulin Rouge!—Pitch Perfect, Rock of Ages, Happy Feet… but most significantly, Glee would not exist without this movie. The jukebox musicals of the 21st century owe everything to Moulin Rouge! and the blueprint it lays down.”

Among the films that premiered at Cannes in 2001—David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher—was another kooky little number: Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson’s animated Shrek. Two jukebox musicals in the same prestige film festival, at a moment when the genre was considered deeply uncool? What a time to be alive!

If the last eighteen months have taught us anything, it’s that we film lovers enjoy nothing more than a comfort rewatch of our favorites. Moulin Rouge! and Shrek (and French Shrek) delivered untold comfort in the pandemic—but they had also soothed us much earlier, in the months following the unspeakable tragedy of the 9/11 attacks.

“For me it was very much a comfort film,” recalls Duffy, who had discovered Moulin Rouge! as a fresh-faced eighteen-year-old, during her first year away from home, studying in New York. “Part of that was rooted in this really traumatic thing that had happened, and all of us wanting to escape into this fantasy world as much as possible.”

Luhrmann said, in his recent Australian interview, “I love to see people united and uplifted and exulted. It’s a privilege to be a part of helping people find that.” As life outside our homes resumes, Moulin Rouge! will very much be part of a return to exultant living. The live musical—interrupted by Covid—opens in Melbourne in August and on the West End and Broadway in the fall.

Pearce last saw the film on a large screen in a derelict warehouse in London, at Secret Cinema’s interactive, carnivalesque spectacular. “I have to say, I was really proud of the film,” the screenwriter says, finally letting himself speak fondly of his accomplishment well over an hour into our conversation.

“I mean, some people liked it back in the day, but you’re never really satisfied with your work. You just tend to see the things that could have been better. But seeing the love for the film was really, really emotional.”

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Craig Pearce is currently producing ‘Pistol’—a biopic miniseries on the Sex Pistols, directed by Danny Boyle—and his next film with Luhrmann is a biopic of Elvis Presley, with Austin Butler playing the king of rock and roll. Additional thanks to Dr. Eleonora Sammartino, Lisa Duffy and Dr. Hannah Robbins.

#moulin rouge #moulin rouge!#baz luhrmann #catherine martin #nicole kidman #ewan mcgregor #children of the revolution #truth beauty freedom love #musical #movie musical #jukebox musical #paris #australian director #letterboxd

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being-worthy · 4 years

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Saturday Home Cinema: Mulan (2020) - A very honest review!

I just had to write this review because Mulan is one of my heroes and I’m a huge fan of the original Disney Mulan (1998). I saw the movie for the first time as a kid when I had trouble feeling integrated and was daily bullied at school. I re-watched it again and again and again until I was able to learn by heart the script and all the songs in German (and later on, even in English). I just saw so much of myself in Mulan (maybe except for the fact that I’m not as beautiful or witty as she is). I too always felt out of place and I couldn’t be my true self and I was never very ladylike either. I also looked up at her and saw her as a role model. Sometimes I thought that if I stared long enough at my reflection in the mirror, it’d show me my true self - and I’m still waiting to this day… Disney’s 1998 version of Mulan was and still is my favourite Disney movie.

> SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!! <

The best thing about this movie is the soundtrack, especially at the end. Christina Aguilera was the right choice to sing Reflection and Loyal Brave True. The goosebumps her voice gives, I can’t even describe how extraordinary her voice is. In the end credits, you can listen to the English version of Reflection as well as the Chinese version (sadly sung by Liu Yifei ¬¬). It’s worth to watch the end credits and listen to the songs.

*My suggestion: Stop whatever you’re doing. Put on some headphones (even better if they’re noise-cancelling), close your eyes, play the song Reflection song (and Loyal Brave True if you feel like it) by Christina Aguilera, no distractions no interruptions, forget about everything and everyone, let the song flow through your ears, mind, heart, body, and soul, and you will feel like you’re Mulan, especially when the drumming gets louder, it’s epically epic! (Sorry for the redundancy but it IS a remarkable song!)

I welcome the idea of wanting to take a classic and do something new, something fresh with it but humanity could’ve gone without this movie and they shouldn’t ask for $35 to watch it on Disney+ and sometimes a classical doesn’t need to be redone. Additionally, I can’t entirely understand what’s going on these past years not only with Disney but Hollywood and all other big movie production companies. It’s either remake of this classic or a 2nd/3rd sequel of a movie that doesn’t actually require a sequel but it’s still done anyway. Why even bother wasting big amounts of money to create a disaster? You’re better of donating that money to charity (or to me lol). The main thing that Disney has been doing lately are remakes of many of our childhood movies Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, among others, and now Mulan. Some have a few good parts in them but they still can’t and never will compare to the original. Why is there no originality and innovation anymore? Have they run out of ideas? Furthermore, let’s be honest people will always compare the remake (either consciously or unconsciously) with the original because there are less than a dozen movies where the remake either was (almost) as good as the original much less better than the original. The movie Mulan (2020) had a massive budget and is the most expensive film made by a female director (Niki Caro), yet how they made it, the battle sequences and CGI effects, etc. they’re all crappy.

Budgets of all Mulan interpretations:

Mulan (1998) - $90 million > Directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. Made $304.3 million in the box office

Hua Mulan (2009) - $12 million > Directed by Jingle Ma. Sadly, made only $1.8 million in the box office. It deserved more love!

Mulan (2020) - $200 million(!!) > All that budget was a waste!

I’ve seen all three versions. The 1998 version is for everybody and it’s funny and you feel with the characters and the film. Let’s be honest, the granny is one of the best characters, most of us have or had a granny like that in our lives. The 2nd one is a 2-hour long movie, a more mature adaption which illustrates the ugly harsh truth about war and the loss and death it brings with it and that there’s nothing funny or cool about it. This one is not suitable for children. You feel with the characters and their sacrifices and they also develop along the movie. I can only recommend to watch this version if you haven’t. And the latest one is a disgrace.

I’m a bit confused as to what the message of the movie is. On one hand, it tells you shouldn’t hide your inner beauty, you shouldn’t hide who you are, you shouldn’t hide your abilities, you shouldn’t try to hide who you truly are in order to conform to what the world/society wants you to be or who you should be, let your true self shine and be yourself and don’t allow anyone to tell you that you’re inferior just because they think/say you are. This is something powerful and admirable but, on the other hand, at the same time, it tells you that you can only do that if you are the chosen one. Let me explain... In the beginning, we see Mulan as a little girl chasing a chicken up to the roofs of the houses at the village where she lives. Basically, she’s born as a one-woman army (almost deus ex machina) and doesn’t require any further training which is total and utter rubbish. She has all the skills because of her powerful chi (vital life force energy) but has to underplay them because it’s not very ladylike to behave like she wants to and she still underplays them when she trains with the soldiers so as to keep a low profile. Her being so powerful from the beginning makes me feel alienated from her and I can’t empathise with her. It’s also not very realistic, nobody is born with their abilities fully developed. For example, even Bruce Lee had to train hard to get where he got and he wasn’t the only one.

The original version shows us a regular girl, at times clumsy (which is a cliché but we still liked it) and when she’s confronted with new situations, she analyses them and finds a quick canny solution to them. She also has to train her body and mind to get to the peak of her potential and accomplish what nobody else could in her time, and here the character is done from the start of the movie and the only thing she has to do is choose not to hide her chi anymore. This tells us that you don’t have to work hard to achieve your dreams whereas in reality you actually do have to work your butt off!

I’m not a fan of the leading actress they chose for Mulan, aka Liu Yifei, not only because she’s a police brutality supporter according to her controversial tweets a while back - this already makes her unworthy to portray Mulan who is the complete opposite - but also because she didn’t do a good job at depicting this great role. Mulan is a role model for every girl and woman and it’s a massive contradiction if a woman who agrees to the atrocious police methods impersonates her role. What message do we send out to every girl out in the world? In her acting she’s this blank and hollow person through the movie and transmits no emotion whatsoever - not even when she cries. This also makes it difficult for me to identify myself with her. She’s this wooden plank, she is and stays a blank canvas through the whole movie with no growth in her character and it’s frustrating having to see this because the character of Mulan isn’t at all like this. Mulan experiences many emotions from the moment where she makes the decision to enlist so her father doesn’t have to or when she experiences the loss of her comrades or has to kill someone for the first time, etc. she suffers along her journey and all this changes her but you see nothing of it in Liu Yifei’s Mulan.

In the Disney version, there are some crucial moments that are missing in the new one. For instance, the most crucial one is the moment where Mulan decides to go to war. If you remember the animation one, she’s sitting in the rain by the dragon statue and at that moment makes a decision that could kill her or worse bring dishonour to herself and her entire family (including ancestors) which was far worse than death during that time! She gets up, marches to the altar of her ancestors, takes her father’s sword and cuts her hair (I know men had long hair back then too but still), puts on the armour and goes to war. All this while being accompanied by an epic song written by Jerry Goldsmith called Haircut. This is one of the most intense and dramatic moments in the movie and in all Disney movies! You can understand and feel the importance of this decision for the character and you feel the weight of it! In the 2020 one, she takes the sword and the next shot presents her already with the armour on - there’s zero dramatic impact here. That was a great missed opportunity!! By omitting important scenes and their dramatic impacts like this one that are essential to the story and to the characters, to their development and their journey throughout the story and you really need to rely on the original from 1998 to have this context.

The battle scenes are like many modern movies: lots of action, lots of moving (too fast-moving), a few amazing fighting moves and fights but not showed entirely. I at least expected some similar quality, like we’ve seen in films such as Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004), and Tiger & Dragon (2020) to name a few. Sadly, these movies had better fight scenes quality than Mulan which were filmed in high frame rate but over-edited with action that is negatively frenetic and have artificial CGI effects (even the CGI effects in Independence Day were better - I’m watching the movie while writing this). We’re in the 21st century with great advances in technology and movies are given big budgets (particularly Hollywood films), yet despite all this, most movies end up with CGI effects from another era. How come this happens over and over? In this one, we see people running too fast, horses running too fast, and they’re all like a big mass of headless chickens and you don’t know exactly what is happening where. All this fast running, the constant cut and paste of scenes looks all too modern and doesn’t fit the current time period of the movie and it surely doesn’t transmit the way of fighting of that period.

Moreover, we get lots of flashback-lesson learning scenes throughout the movie. This is another fashion in movies lately, playing the film in the present time while at the same time jumping back and forth between flashbacks. It spends a good portion of the movie with these flashbacks. This is not a big issue and admirable per se but when these scenes are insignificant because they’re glossed over and transmitted without zilch emotion, then why even bother to include them in the first instance?

As a last comment, I like the fact that they hired Chinese actors and actresses for the movie (although I don’t know why it had to be in English, I’d have preferred it to be in Chinese, it’s not like we’re allergic to subtitles - unless they’re not done properly), some of them of renewed name, like Gong Li, Rosalind Chao (I loved her in The Joy Luck Club), Jet Li, Donnie Yen (legendary Ip Man), Jason Scott Lee (saw him in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), Tzi Ma but they won’t be able to save the movie even with a great cast like this one.

#disney mulan #disney mulan 2020 #mulan live action #saturday home cinema #boycott mulan #don't watch it #don't watch mulan #don't watch mulan 2020 #disney should be ashamed #honest review #a very honest review #film night #movie night

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towritecomicsonherarms · 4 years

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Don’t mind if i do!

GO (1999)

Directed by the guy who brought you Edge of Tomorrow, Swingers and The Bourne Identity. It revolves around a drug deal from diffrent POVs. Great cast. Great soundtrack.

Swingers (1996)

Directed by the guy who brought you Go. This film launched the careers of Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughan and heather Graham. The answer machine message scene kills me.

Way of the Gun (2000)

From the guy who has made the 2 best Mission impossible films (rogue nation and fallout) comes this modern western. As in a film set now but it’s basically a western. It features the most unique car chase i have EVER seen. Also the opening scene is one of my favourites of all time.

youtube

The Quick and the Dead (1995)

Modern western from Sam Raimi (yes, Sam Raimi) and a star studded cast.

Confessions of a dangerous mind (2002)

George Clooney’s directorial debut with a great cast (watch out for those cameos). It’s about the guy who invented the dating game who claims to have been a CIA hitman.

Dog Soldiers (2002)

My favourite werewolf film. British soldiers come under attack by a pack of werewolves. The practical SFX are wizard. And a guy fist fights a werewolf.

Near Dark (1987)

My favourite vampire film. From academy award winning director Kathryn bigelow comes an actual good film.

Strange Days (1995)

Another Bigelow film. Would be her best film if not for Point Break. It’s all cyberpunky!

The Warriors (1979)

A gang framed for a murder try to get back home.

Dazed and Confused (1993)

A 70s coming of age film with a few future oscar winners among the cast. The soundtrack is so good they had to make a 2nd one.

Out of Sight (1998)

Another crime comedy. Clooney and Lopez star in this adapation of an Elmore Leondard book. They have FANTASTIC chemistry these 2 and i refuse to believe they didn’t bone.

Get Shorty (1995)

Another Elmore Leonard adaptation. John Travolta is cool as fuck in this crime comedy. The sequel isn’t good!

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

This mockumentary might be the greatest comedy ever made. It goes to 11.

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Not John Carpenter’s best film but it’s his most underrated. A police station comes under siege from some very bad people.

Snatch (2000)

Guy Ritchies best film. Another crime comedy. Brad Pitt basically begged for a role. One of my fave endings to a film ever.

Bound (1996)

This film got the Wachowskis the matrix job. Crime thriller about a mobsters girlfriend teaming up with a handywoman to rip off her boyfriend. Jennifer Tilly is SIZZLING!

Tremors (1990)

It’s a 50s style monster film with good effects and cast.

Slither (2006)

Another monster film. This one from James Gunn.

Re-Animator (1985)

Horror film abou a guy who creates a serum to reanimate dead bodies. it all goes tits up.

The Boondock Saints (1999)

Vigilante action film about two brothers doing vigilante action stuff. Willen Dafoe Willen Dafoes hard in this.

The Elephant Man (1980)

A film about Joseph Merrick aka The Elephant Man. He was a real person in 19th century london who had severe deformities (hence the name). One of the few films that makes me cry like a baby.

Starship Troopers (1997)

One of my favourite films ever. It still looks fantastic today. The bugs have declared war and you need to do your part. Would you like to know more?

Raising Arizona (1987)

An ex-con and an ex-cop steal a baby and hijinks ensue.

Collateral (2004)

Tom Cruise was John Wick before John Wick was John Wick.

Hard Boiled (1992)

Top five action film of all time. Chow Yun Fat is cool as fuck and shoots many bullets.

aaaaaaaaaaaaand

i think i’m done. Surely you can find something in there that interests you.

Oh and Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender!

#wellthatsclever #q #ramma

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jojiship · 4 years

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Studio Ghibli Films: Thoughts & Rankings

I have been binging Studio Ghibli (and other anime films) since May. I saw a lot of people in Youtube rank them and I decided to do it as well. While I don’t have a camera to record myself, I decided to post my ranking of its films. First of all, I want to say that this is quite a subjective ranking and it’s personal. These are my opinions and of course, everyone can have opinions of their own. Second of all, I think all of these films have their good sides, but there are ones that I enjoyed and there are ones I didn’t enjoy. Either way, I recommend people to watch all of these films. You won’t regret watching most of them.

This post ranks the films from the 5th to 1st. Obviously, there will be spoilers ahead, so you’ve been warned.

5. Princess Mononoke (1997) – I would watch the animation of the nature in this film for hours in loop. It’s so wonderful, beautiful and breathtaking. Whether it’s animating the lake, the forest or even just the trees, I was in awe of it. It truly makes you appreciate it and again, Studio Ghibli shows you how much they love nature themselves. Now, let’s talk about the film. The film was amazing. The best word for it is amazing. The plot was so different and yet so captivating. There wasn’t a moment in this film where I was bored and where I felt it dragged along. Seeing this battle between humans and nature was what I had to see. When I was a kid, I didn’t appreciate this film as much, but now, it’s definitely one of my favourite films and in my top five of Studio Ghibli films. All the characters were incredibly well written, especially Ashitaka, San and Lady Eboshi. I love how there was no villain in this film. Yes, Lady Eboshi and her people were ruining the forest, but they were also trying to live their lives and grow as a community. I loved how everyone played a part in the village, the men, the woman and even the disables, had roles. You don’t see this in many films and I like that Princess Mononoke showed us that. The boars and the wolves were interesting to see as well. The bond that San had with her family and how she hated humans because of how she was raised. The ending was great. I liked that Ashitaka decided to stay and help with Irontown rather than go with San like some people expected him to. The only thing that truly bothered me was the face of the Forest Spirit. It haunted me for days which prove how much it creeped me out. If someone told me that the face of the Forest Spirit was their sleep paralysis demon, I would believe them in the spot.

4. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) - The first Studio Ghibli film that I’ve seen is My Neighbor Totoro. It’s the kind of film that reminds me of my childhood and it’s the one that gives me a nostalgic feeling. I love it so much that it’s definitely the film of Studio Ghibli that I’ve seen the most. It has this charm that should be more prevalent in other animated films, especially films for kids. Every scene is truly like magic. Whether it’s the umbrella scene at the bus stop, or the scene where the tree grows, or even the scene with the cat bus and the girls. Satsuki and Mei are enjoyable, vibrant and interesting characters. The bond between them reminds me a lot of my bond with my older sister. You can definitely say that I was a lot like Mei as a little kid (Yes, I did get lost one time and made my whole family, especially my sister lose their mind). Again, this film embraces the beauty of being a child. It shows the curiosity, the innocence, the energy and the imagination that most kids possess at that age. Totoro is such an interesting character design and it’s no surprise that it’s the logo of Studio Ghibli. My Neighbor Totoro speaks to my inner child and reminds me of the good old days. It’s a film that I’ll recommend to everyone, but especially young kids. Also, it’s the Studio Ghibli film that makes me smile through the whole of it. If I’m feeling sad or if I’m not in a good mood, I watch My Neighbor Totoro and it never fails to make me feel better.

3. Spirited Away (2001) – Objectively, I think Spirited Away is the best film that Studio Ghibli has ever produced. Personally, it’s the third, but that doesn’t mean it’s worse than the second and first. It’s a matter of preference that I have. Again, I watched this film as a kid and I did enjoy it a lot. I always called it one of the best animated films. I rewatched it in May after years of not watching it and I loved it just as much as I did when I was a kid if not more. Miyazaki created an unforgettable film with an astounding plot, amazing characters and an exciting world building. Chihiro is your typical kid. She can be whiny and scared just as every kid is her age. The growth that she goes through the film was amazing. Watching her work hard and her progress was such a good watch. You could see her struggle with cleaning at first, but soon enough, she got the hang of it. Also, as much as I love the film, I couldn’t help but think that her parents were a bit dumb. Like my parents wouldn’t have done any of the things her parents did. My dad wouldn’t have sped like that in such a dangerous road and they definitely would have turned around after coming close to the temple. Either way, I’m glad that they screwed up though because it gave me this film. The other characters like Haku, Yubaba, Zeniba, Lin and many others were brilliant. Out of all this, I enjoyed Haku the most. The way he helped Chihiro was so nice and their whole bond was fascinating to see on screen. The guests in the bathhouse were designed so well and were just so good. I don’t have any words to describe the scenes with No Face or the spirit of the polluted river because they are out of this world. No wonder this film won an Oscar for best animated film. The details, the story, the animation, the characters, the soundtrack and the world building all deserve an Oscar of their own.

2. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - I don’t think I’ve ever cried with any film, book or series as much as I cried with this. Even when it ended and I had turned my TV off, I was crying. It’s one of the saddest films I’ve ever watched and truly, the saddest film Studio Ghibli has ever made. It touched my heart immediately when it started and it ended up ripping it at the end. I knew that it wasn’t going to have a happy ending, the beginning tells you that it’s going to end quite sadly. Yet I was taken back by the scenes, especially the last scenes. The story of Seita and Setsuko is a story that many kids have experienced in war. In most war films, we are shown battles, we are shown armies, soldiers etc., but not in this film. In this film, we saw the personal history of siblings trying to survive war and bombings. Seeing Setsuko hallucinating was heartbreaking and it was in that moment when I started to cry. When Seita said that she never woke up after that, I couldn’t control myself. Funeral scenes have been hard for me to watch lately, but not a single funeral scene has broken my heart like the one in this film. The scene where Home Sweet Home played in the background left me speechless and I still don’t know how to explain how I feel with that scene. Grave of the Fireflies is a film that is all too real and it made my whole body hurt at the end. Although it's ranked second in my list, it’s the one who I’ll probably rewatch the least out of all Studio Ghibli. Takahata is truly an incredible director and this film proves that better than any other film of his.

1. Whisper of the Heart (1995) – Talented. Inspiring. Brilliant. Relatable. Amazing. Show-stopping. Spectacular. Never the same. Totally unique. Whisper of the Heart is undoubtedly the best Studio Ghibli film I’ve watched. I enjoyed everything about it to the last details. I didn’t even stop the film to get water even though I was thirsty as hell. That’s how much I loved the film. I never related to characters as much as I related to Shizuku and Seiji. I write and I used to play the violin when I was younger. While I stopped, I still enjoy every story that has something to do with violins. Shizuku was such a normal character that spoke so much to me and to everyone I recommended this film to. Many of us have been in her position where we didn’t know what we’re going to do in the future. While Shizuku had many interests, you could see that she was stuck. I liked that she was inspired by Seiji to see if she could be good at something and she learned that she did have some sort of talent for writing. But just like Seiji’s grandfather, Shiro said about polishing her talent. I think many people, especially people who paint, draw, sing, compose, write and build, should listen to his words. They shouldn’t expect perfection at their first try and that they should give it time and hard work for their skills to become amazing. When I first started to write, I needed to hear Shiro’s words. This film is such a beautiful coming of age story that I think everyone should see no matter the age. Now, let’s go to the romance of the film. Hands down, Shizuku and Seiji are the best romance in Studio Ghibli films. While I love Howl and Sophie and Jiro and Naoko, it’s Shizuku and Seiji that won my heart. They had such a good romantic journey. Their scenes were just astoundingly beautiful, especially the one in the end. When I saw him by the tree, I started to giggle and I always screamed. It was just incredible to watch. Every interaction they had made me love them more. I repeat, the best Studio Ghibli couple. When I finished the film, I wanted to find a guy like Seiji. Too bad we were in lockdown and I was unable to find him. The use of Country Roads was amazing. I always loved the song and now, it’s one of my favourite. What upsets me about this film is the death of its director. If Kondo hadn’t tragically passed away in 1998, I think he would have given us other amazing films like Whisper of the Heart. I can say that this movie whispered in my heart and I’ll never forget it.

#studio ghibli #studio ghibli films #hayao mizayaki #isao takahata #rankings #princess mononoke #my neighbor totoro #spirited away #grave of the fireflies #whisper of the heart

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jurijurijurious · 4 years

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“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”

Spent my evening capping this trashy hist drama - “Henry VIII” (2003). The cast is actually (mostly) mint, there are some cracking actors in here - Charles Dance, Mark Strong, Helena Bonham-Carter, Sean Bean, David Suchet - shame about Winstone’s cockney gangsta king though. And it’s a pity the production doesn’t match the quality of some of its cast. It tries so hard to emulate “Elizabeth” (1998) and set itself up as a kind of unofficial prequel, with it’s attempt at interweaving conspiracies, voyeuristic or overhead camera angles, a Norfolk who seems so closely styled to Eccleston’s it’s uncanny, and some musical scoring which is practically Hirschfelder’s soundtrack in places. It even goes so far as to use Elgar’s “Nimrod” at the end just like “Elizabeth” does. But it doesn’t quite have the cleverness or suspense of “Elizabeth”, reverts to most of the usual character stereotypes, and in places is really, really silly; it’s like “The Sun” newspaper made history. (And it completely erases Thomas More, he doesn’t figure in it at all??) But hey, I’m still fond of it; I watched it so much in my late teens/early twenties; it’s harmless comfort viewing providing you don’t use it as a history lesson. (Please don’t.)

#henry viii 2003 #henry viii #historical drama #period drama #ray winstone #helena bonham carter #charles dance #mark strong #sean bean #david suchet #tudor history #the tudors #danny webb #elizabeth 1998 #historical nonsense #trashy tv

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365days365movies · 3 years

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February 3, 2021: Sleepless in Seattle (Review)

As I go through this month, I’m really starting to think about my relationships with romances, especially romantic comedies. I do find it interesting that the beginning of this month has me diving STRAIGHT into romantic comedy territory, even though I didn’t really intend to do that. But, hey, we’re here, so let’s go for it, right?

Anyway, this was maybe one of the most stereotypical rom-coms I’ve ever seen, but ENTIRELY in a good way. I’ll try to explain that as I go along here, but I genuinely did enjoy this movie! Do I think it’s the best movie I’ve ever seen? Eh. We’ll get there. Anyway...

Review

Cast and Acting: 8/10

As we go along this month, I’m going to be judging the leads of these films not just alone, but also together. Which is...SUPER hard with this one, simply because the two leads only see each other for about...two minutes of total runtime? But HOT DAMN, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks unsurprisingly kill this movie. Despite how I feel about some of the writing, and some of the plots, and even some character work, these two are absolutely perfect for these roles, and they manage to surpass Pretty Woman’s...mostly. Ryan isn’t as charming as Roberts, but she’s still a fun character to watch most of the time. But Hanks, vs. Gere? PFFFT, no contest whatsoever, Hanks TAKES that one. They somehow manage to sell a relationship that doesn’t even slightly exist for most of the film.

What about the supporting cast, though? Ross Malinger is a fantastic child actor, and also sells the conflicted, yet still innocent Jonah greatly. While the character is mostly just a method by which the plot moves, he’s still played excellently. Bill Pullman makes his purposefully boring character incredibly likable, enough so that I really want him to find someone perfect for him, goddamn. Rosie O’Donnell is also a fun actress in here, and does sell her transformation from doubting friend to ardent Sam-Annie shipper by the end. The cast of this film is fantastic, and while they don’t quite match up to Pretty Woman all-around, it’s still a great cast.

Plot and Writing: 8/10

...Y’know, shortly after seeing this movie, I wasn’t a big fan of the writing. But now that I think about it, I kind of get it. If Pretty Woman was meant to be a modernized fairy-tale/Pygmalion story, then this is a romantic comedy actively trying to be a movie romance. Yeah, it’s a weirdly meta-contextual take on how love feels in movies, with Ryan taking the role of an ardent love of love, and Hanks having experienced real love and having lost it. And in that way...damn, this movie KILLS it. Nora Ephron, David S. Ward, and James Arch, kudos here. As for the plot, as odd as it is, I can also say that I’ve NEVER seen anything quite like it. And while it has some common romantic tropes in it, it somehow manages to combine them in a unique way! Again, credit where credit’s due, here.

Directing and Cinematography: 8/10

...Does this movie get better with age THIS QUICKLY? Because, yeah, now that I think about it, there’s actually some brilliant cinematography in this film, and the credit for that goes to Sven Nykvist, one of the GREATEST CINEMATOGRAPHERS OF ALL TIME. Seriously, he’s gonna pop up again one of these days, I guarantee it. As for the direction, also very good. Maybe not perfect on Nora Ephron’s part, but still fantastic, no matter what. So, yeah, high points here, too.

Production and Art Design: 8/10

...What is happening? Look, this one definitely doesn’t have the iconic outfits of Pretty Woman, but it’s still visually iconic, mostly due to its different but distinctive locations. From Chicago, to Baltimore, to Seattle, and to New York City, it is a distinctive-looking film nonetheless. Sam’s houseboat, Becky’s couch (weirdly), the GODDAMN EMPIRE STATE BUILDING WITH A HEART ON IT. Yeah, I gotta give some points for that, weirdly enough.

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Music and Editing: 9/10

...It’s a sign, I guess. Fact of the matter is, the already existing music here was MEANT to be remembered more than the actual composed soundtrack by Marc Shaiman, which is...actually quite beautiful. Also, Marc Shaiman, HOLY SHIT has he done a lot in movies. Just as an example...you like jazz?

But fact of the matter is, this movie hit ALL of my soundtrack buttons. You wanna win me the fuck OVER? Throw some Jimmy Durante at my face, alongsidesome Louie Armstrong and Nat King fuckin’ COLE. That is how you win me over. I DO NOT CLAIM TO BE A COMPLICATED MAN. Just one who likes old-school crooner shit. It makes someone happy, AND THAT SOMEONE IS ME.

82%. Yeah, not losing sleep over that one.

I honestly did really like this movie in retrospect, and it weirdly got better over time, AFTER HAVING WATCHED IT. No wonder it’s a classic.

But although we leave this film, WE SHALL NOT LEAVE THE HOLY ROMANCE EMPIRE YET! One more act in this fictionation’s history to explore. And if that makes no sense, here’s the Recap, knock yourself out. Anyway...did you hear that sound?

February 4, 2021: You’ve Got Mail (1998)

#sleepless in seattle #nora ephron #tom hanks #sam baldwin #meg ryan #annie reed #bill pullman #ross malinger #rosie o'donnell #rob reiner #romance february #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #user365 #userlet #inlovewithmovies #motionpicturesource

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randomvarious · 4 years

Audio

Freddie Fresh feat. Fatboy Slim - “Badder Badder Schwing” Big Beat Song released in 1998. Compilation released in 1999. Big Beat / Breaks

Let's start this post off with a graf from the preamble of a 2018 Freddy Fresh interview, conducted by Matt Lush in Decoded Magazine:

Freddy Fresh is a name that shouldn't require an introduction. From the vast output of his multiple genre-spanning labels; Analog USA, Electric Music Foundation and Howlin' Records, to winning the ARSC Journalism Award for cataloguing every hip-hop release ever made in a single book, crafting timeless acid and electro under over 15 aliases with the likes of Thomas Heckmann, Woody McBride, Tim Taylor and Paul Birkin, and the rest, big beat with Fat Boy Slim, his soundtrack work...it goes on... yet ironically, in my experience anyway, Freddy Fresh seems to be so often underrated, unconsciously ignored, or even completely unknown in the modern electronic world.

Over the course of his career, Freddy Fresh has had his fingers lodged in many different pies. In fact, those pies are sometimes stacked on top of each other so a single finger can penetrate multiple pies at once. Fresh is a DJ's DJ who can patch together eclectic mixes of house, techno, funk, disco, breaks, hip hop, electro, and more; he's produced music across a panoply of dance genres; he's founded a bunch of different record labels; he's opened for blink-182 on tour; his music has appeared in multiple films, TV shows, and commercials; he's authored indispensable books that document hip hop's early history; he's taught DJing at a local college; and he also sells rare records. Put simply, if you're not familiar with Freddy Fresh, you should be.

Freddy Fresh first found his initial passion for music in hip hop culture, entirely thanks to a 1984 trip from his hometown of St. Paul to the Bronx. From then, he would try to ingratiate himself into the Big Apple's hip hop scene, returning once every year with hopes of impressing the right people. He wasn't all that successful, but he did land a track on a 1988 Boogie Down Productions remix album, which honored the memory of BDP's recently slain co-founder, DJ Scott La Rock. Another fun fact that links Freddy to BDP is that if you look at the cover of BDP's landmark debut album, 1987's Criminal Minded, you'll see a plaque towards the bottom lefthand corner. Know who furnished that plaque for them? Freddy Fresh. His dad owned a trophy shop and Freddy gave them the plaque during one of his yearly New York pilgrimages.

But Freddy would soon find himself gravitating towards other genres, too, like house and techno. From that Decoded interview:

I sent demos to Strictly Rhythm [top tier New York-based house label] and various labels and was always rejected. It was years later that labels like Adrenalin and Experimental stood up and took me under their wings. My first techno 12 inch was on Experimental, under my Modulator name. Maximum Pulse / Timmy's Trance in 1992, that got me into the techno scene and also got me my first international DJ gig in Paris 1993 where I played with Jeff Mills, Joey Beltram and Damon Wild... Damon Wild was the man mainly responsible for my early techno career, God Bless Him.

Freddy Fresh then became a big German techno guy. He played sets at Tresor in Berlin (the techno club of techno clubs) and released records on the legendary Frankfurt-based label, Harthouse.

However, a new current started to emerge in the UK in the mid-90s called big beat, which appeared to match with Freddy Fresh's own hip hop sensibilities. It was a strain of dance music that fused together sampled soul, funk, jazz, and rock breaks, which, along with disco, is what hip hop producers largely used to make their own beats. And when those breaks were properly combined with contemporary electronic sounds, like, for example, Roland TB-303 acid squelches, it yielded a newfangled and fun brand of BIG and brash dance tunes. Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim, would emerge as the genre's rightful king, with his uniquely liberal use of bouncy and surf-twangy 50s and 60s guitar samples. And although Freddy Fresh was still an absurdly prolific techno producer in 1996, his Harthouse album, Accidentally Classic, along with a couple Harthouse 12-inches that were licensed from his own Butterbeat label, saw him trying his hand at the big beat sound, which would eventually lead to him teaming up with Norman Cook in 1998.

A March 2020 profile in Mixmag has more:

While he may have been known in France for techno releases on his Analog label, it was Freddy Fresh's releases on Butterbeat that caught the ears of Norman Cook in Brighton. He was an avid supporter of Fresh's perky updates on the hip hop sound, and that's what brought him over to the British seaside. "I got invited to play the Big Beat Boutique. That's when I first met [Cook] and then he ends up sampling my voice [for 'Fucking in Heaven'], then we worked on 'Badder Badder Schwing' together. I loved Norman because he was authentic. He did everything himself. I was like, 'this fucking guy's just like me!'. He collects breakbeats, he's an amazing DJ, he knows how to put shit together and he knows how to run 303s - and Roland 303s are really hard to program.

That co-production with Cook, "Badder Badder Schwing," would originally appear on Freddy Fresh's album, The Last True Family Man, before being released as a single the following year. The single would then turn into an unexpected British hit, earning the mostly techno producer some well-deserved commercial appeal by reaching #34 in the UK charts. "Badder Badder Schwing" can also be heard in 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember, although it didn't end up being included on the commercially released official soundtrack.

Dipping into that Decoded interview once again for a tad more backstory to "Badder Badder Schwing":

I did have 90% of that track finished when Norman joined in and took it from a 7 to a 10 with his sheer genius.

By sampling a bunch of 60s songs, including horns and drums from Helen Reddy's "One Way Ticket," vocals and hand claps from The Routers' "Let's Go (Pony)," and more drums from Tommy Roe's "Sweet Pea," Freddy Fresh and Norman Cook were able to cobble together a fantastic piece of late 90s, dancefloor-igniting big beat. However, it would be interesting to know which 90% of the track Freddy Fresh had finished before passing it off to Cook, because the whole thing really sounds like a Fatboy Slim track from start to finish. And that's not to discredit Freddy in any way, because despite what dance music's detractors might think, it's not an easy task to make a good dance tune. But the entirety of "Badder Badder Schwing" appears to have Cook's fingerprints all over it, from his glitching, jammed-up, calling card stutters, to the way the combined horn and drum sampling sounds, to the brief, guitar-sampled detour, to the eerie and overdriven background yowling. The song's main riff is when those Helen Reddy horns play, and you'd have to assume that was part of Freddy's contribution, since according to him, the song was virtually done before he let Cook put on the finishing touches. But still, that part sounds like something Fatboy Slim would make, doesn't it? 🤷‍♂️ 🧐🤔

Then again, Freddy Fresh did say about Cook in that recent Mixmag profile, "the fucking guy's just like me!" so maybe they were on the same exact letter within the same exact word on the same exact page in 1998. In the end, it doesn't really matter all that much. Big beat's passed us by, but throw this on at a party (when we're allowed to party again, of course) and it's guaranteed to still go.

Check out the music video, too, which features a kid magician doing a series of tricks:

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